We used to gather around a fire to listen to stories, now its a laptop
“Pre-Google, Pre-internet, Pre-books even, we used to rely on stories to educate us. The spoken word was gospel. We would gather round camp-fires, and the story tellers of the day would impart their wisdom. What made these people stars was not just what they had to say, but how they said it. The delivery matters (It always does) The best of them would inform, frighten and inspire us all in one sitting.
The internet, with the onset of cheap or free access to broadband has brought the power of story telling back to the modern world. And it’s a phenomenon. Replace the camp-fire and put a laptop in its place and you have where man was a few million years ago.”
Matching Storytelling To Writing Skills
“My point is that adults learn by hearing or reading stories. At the very heart of effective business communications (or any communications, for that matter) are “ideas and details.” Tell a relevant story, connect it to your idea, and back it up with details.”
STORYTELLING IS THE FUTURE OF THE WEB
“Most of the successful marketing campaigns that stand out in my memory all revolve around characters. Some of them are simply charismatic spokespeople, like Geico’s gecko, Nationwide’s “Greatest Spokesperson in the World, or, I suppose, Burger King’s creepy king. Others keenly represent the intended customer—think way back to Wendy’s “where’s the beef?” lady, or more recently to Apple’s mac and PC guys. In all of these cases, it was decided that a more compelling message could be created by using characters to tell a story, rather than putting the product itself front and center.”
ZooBurst Lets Kids Make Their Own AR Pop-up Book
“ZooBurst is a new digital storytelling service that blends two of the things I enjoyed most as a kid: writing my own stories and reading pop-up books. The browser-based tool allows users to write, illustrate, and share their own 3D storybooks.
The 3D book-builder allows narration, images, animations, and speech balloons to be added to the story. Its interface is simple and certainly suitable for elementary-school age kids to use to create and illustrate their own stories.”
Brand Integration & Multi-Platform Narrative at the Studio, Publisher & Network Levels
“But here’s the rub. We still haven’t figured out brand integration. And perhaps this is the very thing that can actually make audience delivery a sustainable endeavor. Here’s what I mean.
Let’s first make the very clear distinction between brand integration and branded entertainment. Brand integration is, well, just that: a brand seamlessly becoming a part of an experience, one that can be comprised of any number of channels, and host any number of narrative pieces. Branded entertainment has had some bright spots, but most often it is the crap you see from the likes of Electus…”
STORYTELLING – REKINDLING TRADITIONS
“Part of what I have learned through my public speaking engagements is the importance of my role as a storyteller. It is not just my role – it is how we are all storytellers and how these stories are important. It is through stories that we teach and inform and inspire others by capturing the imagination and the spirit of a time, a place, a person or an idea.
Social Media has become a vehicle for storytelling.”
Norman Rockwell’s Storytelling Lessons
“Rockwell used the techniques of a film director to create his scenes. He hired models—often several, depending on the picture—and carefully placed them, for charcoal sketches and later for photographs. Most successful illustrators made their reputations and livings on precise verisimilitude, but Rockwell’s skills were so formidable that he can be seen as a precursor of the Photo Realists of later decades. His pictures draw us into the scene, letting us forget the involvement of the artist and his artifices, in the same way a good director erases our awareness of crews and equipment and the other side of the camera. Rockwell has the power to win us over with his illusions. As Steven Spielberg put it, “I look back at these paintings as America the way it could have been, the way someday it may be again.”
Mission Video: Storytelling and Strategy
A nice slide deck. Applicable to more than just non-profits.
Five simple tricks to spice up your storytelling
“The good news for you and me is good storytelling is free if you know how to do it. And sometimes it’s even quick. Next time you’re shooting a video story, audio slideshow, radio piece, interactive — whatever…try one of these simple tricks to make sure your story packs a punch.”
“It’s easy enough to see that in a selling scene, a Customer is your Audience. You, in your role as Seller (and make no mistake about it, everyone in this world sells something) need the customer/audience to support you at the boxoffice, the gift shop, the showroom, the supermarket, the website, or anywhere else you can translate their ‘applause’ into revenue. This has been true since studly village smithies were putting on a good show by hammering out horseshoes under the spreading chestnut tree. A good performance gets rewarded by the audience. Selling doesn’t get any simpler than this.
It does, however, get a lot more complex, and in a hurry. Here’s why:”
“Memoov is an excellent site for digital storytelling similar to My Storymaker. As w/ most sites like this, a person can select a character (edit), add a scene/action, and then add text to create a story.”
Eric Wolf – Taking your storytelling business to the next level
“Each level of development that storytellers go through has it’s pitfalls and limitations. How can we as storytellers avoid the pitfalls that have befallen those who gone before? In this discussion Eric Wolf and Steve Otto explore how we as storytellers can go to the next level in our practice as storytellers.”
Irish Entrepreneur Combines Storytelling with GPS
“For tourists and locals alike, finding your away around Ireland is not always the easiest thing to do. Maps are frequently out of date and GPS devices rarely include details of interesting sights and attractions.
Irish entrepreneur John Ward has tackled the problem head on with a new GPS service, that not only helps you find ‘local activities, attractions and accommodation’ in Donegal but also helps bring them to life.”
What a resource! You could spend hours on the site.
“What is this about? This wiki is a catalog of the tricks of the trade for writing fiction. We dip into the cauldron of story, whistle up a hearty spoonful and splosh it in front of you to devour to your heart’s content.”
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